Electronic Resource
Cambridge
:
Cambridge University Press
Journal of child language
17 (1990), S. 67-84
ISSN:
0305-0009
Source:
Cambridge Journals Digital Archives
Topics:
Linguistics and Literary Studies
Notes:
Counter to findings in English, German and Hebrew, recent acquisition studies have shown that the passive is acquired early in several non-Indo-European languages. In an attempt to explain this phenomenon, this paper addresses certain typological phenomena which influence the early acquisition of passives in Sesotho, a southern Bantu language. After outlining the structure of the Sesotho passive and its syntactic and discourse functions, I examine Sesotho-speaking children's spontaneous use of passives, showing that the acquisition of passives in Sesotho is closely linked to the fact that Sesotho subjects must be discourse topics. I conclude that a detailed examination of how passive constructions interact with other components of a given linguistic system is critical for developing a coherent and universally applicable theory of how passives are acquired.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0305000900013106
Permalink
Library |
Location |
Call Number |
Volume/Issue/Year |
Availability |